Areas of expertise

This includes benchmarking and development of service level agreements. APSE was recently commissioned to assist an ALMO in developing a detailed specification and tender documents to tender for a full block and communal area cleaning contract. The ALMO specified the winning supplier had to be in keeping with its three organisational values of customer focus, locally sensitive and performance excellence.

Such as cashless catering systems, civic catering, welfare catering, meals on wheels services, benchmarking of ingredients and pilot and feasibility studies. APSE was recently commissioned by a City Council to undertake a free school meals feasibility study. A three-year scheme had already begun in high schools which saw healthy foods vending machines, free water coolers and free salad bars installed. The next step was to tackle better eating in primary school children. The consultancy was required to establish the feasibility of providing free school meals for every primary school child in the authority’s schools.

Such as parking, enforcement, CCTV, shift work rotas, performance management, patrolling service reviews and Beacon council application assistance. The City Council’s elected members wanted to drive forward a vision of a generic, ‘multi-skilled’, and seamless patrolling and enforcement service that integrated various activities involved with inspection, monitoring or enforcement regardless of historic patterns of service delivery. The report detailed the findings of a review undertaken to establish the feasibility of this approach and concluded with recommendations as to how the vision could be taken forward.

Such as benchmarking and performance management, back office systems, IT, outsourcing, shared services, property and asset management and facilities management. APSE was invited to examine and report on emerging proposals for business transformation within a City Council. The consultancy was provided with two papers. The first of these was a Technical Briefing Paper and the second paper was a public consultation document which set out the case for change and seeks the views of the public on different service delivery models.

We have recently worked with elected members providing training, assistance and support in UNISON matters, the role and responsibilities of elected members and reviews and consultations. APSE also recently undertook a review of the elected member services of two authorities. As part of preparing for merger the authorities needed to develop a detailed picture of how the two councils were currently operating so as  to begin to plan a shared service will.

Such as social housing, benchmarking, schedule of rates, stores, reviews and development of service level agreements. APSE was recently commissioned to assist a local authority in letting a new contract for its building maintenance services. The Council was 12 months into a significant set of improvements and starting to reap the benefits of an improved service. The authority required quotations for all elements of its building maintenance contract including: OJEU procurement process, tenant consultation guidance, contract specification, tender documentation preparation, CDM regulations and Equality and Diversity compliance.

We have previously carried out best value and performance reviews within these services as well as providing interim managers and carrying out customer satisfaction surveys. APSE was recently commissioned to carry out a cultural trust options review. The authority had begun a process of option identification and appraisal in relation to the future provision of leisure services within the Borough. The consultancy was appointed to provide external support and expertise to the process.

APSE was recently commissioned by an ALMO to undertake a review of its grounds maintenance services, the provision of which was undertaken through a service level agreement with the Parks and Open Spaces Section of a Unitary Authority. The review assessed the value for money status of grounds maintenance services, reviewed the service level agreement, having particular regard to the service specification and financial and operational management needs, also reviewing the performance monitoring arrangements currently in place, and to advise the ALMO on the future procurement options for the provision of grounds maintenance services.

This includes grounds maintenance and grave digging, administration, burials, cremations, mercury abatement, income generation, service improvement plan and work study. APSE has been undertaking a fundamental review of the whole service to ensure that the Borough can continue to benefit from a high quality bereavement service. This has included assessing and evaluating current management and operational systems, including workforce deployment and payment systems. 

Such as service reviews, charging and trading, customer satisfaction surveys, parking enforcement, winter maintenance, options appraisal and critical friend. APSE was requested to set up a benchmarking group for the London Boroughs for their parking services. The main aim was to agree an objective basis on which to gather benchmark data regarding parking matters, identify 10 key indicators which the group believed exemplified parking services’ delivery performance, to produce a report showing the key performance issues and comparisons together with lessons which could be learned and to meet as a group to identify and progress improvement actions which arise from the benchmarking process.

Such as adult services, children and young people and housing. APSE was recently commissioned to undertake an external evaluation of a new Vulnerable Children’s service, which was part of a new Social Services Department at a Borough Council currently undergoing reorganisation. The purpose of the review was to consider two specific aspects:

• whether the new structure for safeguarding children was fit for purpose; and
• whether the structure provided for accountability.

Such as green issues, feasibility studies, value for money assessment and prioritisation of future efficiency reviews, member development and pilot studies. APSE was requested to review fleet utilisation within the Roads & Amenity Services of a Scottish Council. The report was commissioned due to increasing costs associated with fleet utilisation. The aims of the work undertaken were to carry out a critical review of the day to day management of the fleet, to examine the key issues of costs, vehicle hires, vehicle downtime and suitability of vehicle, plant and equipment and to provide recommendations and an implementation plan for improvement.

For example, recycling, commercial trade waste, fleet services, litter strategy, outsourcing and in-sourcing and PFI. APSE was recently commissioned to undertake an operational review of the Council’s waste collection services. The primary objective of the review was to establish if the Council’s in-house service provision represented value for money having regard to competitiveness, efficiency and quality of service and to identify where operational performance could be improved and potential cost savings made.

Such as TUPE, equal pay, HR and ICT services, back office services, benchmarking, performance management and diversity. APSE was requested to undertake a review of a Borough Council's sickness levels within their grounds maintenance and street cleansing services. The report identified a range of comparisons on ‘blue collar’ sickness levels, highlighted common factors in the best performing authorities and provided comparison between best performers. We then assisted the Council with a proposed course of action.